Alice Paul was born on January 11,1885,
in Moorestown, New Jersey. Her father, who
died when Alice was sixteen, was a businessman,
banker, and property owner. The Pauls lived in the
small Quaker community of Moorestown. One of
the beliefs of the Quakers was equality of the sexes.
As a young girl, Alice attended the Quaker suffrage
Alice Pauls' father left them enough
money so she could attend the exclusive Swarthmore
College in Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1905 as
a biology major, but after discovering politics in her
senior year, she went on to attend the New York
School of Philanthropy. She majored in sociology,
and spent all of her spare time working for the
In 1907, Paul earned a master's degree
in sociolgy. She went to England to continue her
work toward her doctorate degree. She was begin-
ning to realize that she couldn't change the
situation by social work alone, but needed to
change the actual laws. Women had no voice in
either England or America to change any law.
The suffrage movement was different
in England than in the States. British suffragists
had begun wild women protests in 1905. They
would sneak into male political meetings, and
disrupt the meetings by shouting questions, wave
with the Women's Social and Political Union, she
was warned of possible imprisonment. This threat
did not prevent her from sneaking into political
events. She was arrested ten times in England,
three of which ended in prison time. While in
prison, she continued to protest the government's
refusal to let women vote or speak publicly, by
not eating. She was force-fed for four weeks.
She returned to America in 1910, where
she continued her studies and her suffrage work.
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